Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Weller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Chris, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

When I moved to New York I was still focused on figure drawing and portraiture. I was working on small stretched and gessoed paper in oil. But over the next couple of years the city itself began to change my work. I was living in the East Village where walks down East River Park took me under the bridges. The urban landscape inspired me to focus on my true love which has always been drawing. I did the first bridge drawing of the Manhattan and was immediately swept into the idea of doing the seven major bridges connecting the city to the rest of the world. The series took me four years to complete and transformed the direction of my art. I had spent all of my post university years sharpening my skills but with no solid focus. The bridge series opened up a new way for me to express my ideas and reactions to the world and what it means to navigate the complexity of being in it.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I grew up in a small town in Northern Michigan where there were no “after school” programs for children. I have been making art since I can remember and when I was 10 my mother enrolled me in a summer adult education drawing class at the university. The instructor was mildly horrified but in the end I thrived and she taught me perspective and figure drawing and anatomy. I had a high school art teacher who would have me work on his own paintings. He taught me oil painting and watercolor and gave me so much confidence in my abilities. I did my BFA at Western Michigan University which had a small, very skill focused art department at the time. It was the opposite of a conceptual program. Ideas wear not discouraged but the curriculum emphasized figure drawing, anatomy, perspective and art history. I was fortunate to have such a strong skill set going into the world of being a fine artist. After University I spent a long time finding my way in my work. I lived in a few different states, travel a bit, and documented the people and places in my life in portrait and landscape paintings. When I finally moved to New York my work changed dramatically. The city was the first place that really felt like home and it has fed and influenced my art for the past 25 years.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s an almost ubiquitous belief that creating has its roots in inspiration. When you’re young everyone around you is talking about inspiration and most importantly, using its elusiveness as an excuse for not moving forward. At University my painting teacher took me aside one day, looked me in the eye and said, “Inspiration is for amateurs, do the work”. That stuck with me but took a long time for me to really understand. When I started the bridge series I quickly realized what a gargantuan task I had in front of me. So many days in the studio were just a slog and his words began to have such a deep tone of truth. That advice helped me realize that what I really needed was discipline. I did the work, I went to draw the figure every week, I showed up no matter how I felt. That’s how your work develops and grows. Inspiration and great days in the studio happen as a result of the work, not the other way around.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had been more interested in the business end of the art world sooner. I really just want to be alone in my studio, making art. But I also want people to see and buy the work of course. We used to walk around with a portfolio of slides to show gallery owners in person. Hilarious. I have an amazing person in my life now who built my website and helps me do all of the non art making art world stuff. Finding someone who knows more than you do is an invaluable resource.

Contact Info:

• Website: nycdrawings.com
• Instagram: chriswellernyc

Image Credits
Duggal Visual Solutions, NYC.